Do It Yourself

Even In This Day And Age, Folk Medicine Survives-and Sometimes It Even Works

January 09, 1994|By Bill Stokes, Tribune Staff Writer.

"It isn't the soup, it's the steam that you inhale that clears up congestion and makes you feel better," he said. "I recommend it to all of my patients for relief from a cold."

Home-made poultices also have their place, Albert said. "I recently had a patient who used a poultice that was made according to his grandmother's directions," Albert said, "and by the time he came in to see me, the infection had been knocked down enough so that his body was able to successfully fight it off.

"Any substance that dries slowly has the effect of drawing out infection," Albert said, adding that baking soda might be preferable to mud or cow manure.

As a Peace Corp volunteer in Korea for two years, Albert said he saw the wide use of ginseng to cure all kinds of things. "People believed that it could cure anything," he said, "and that is what a lot of treatment comes down to, what you believe will help you.

"Many people who come to me just need reassurance that what they are doing is right," Albert said, "and I think it helps if a physician touches them and makes them feel comfortable and cared for.

"You have to use reason with home remedies," Albert said. "If you try something and it doesn't work, you should get professional help."

But with bruised nerves. Who is going to help you with that? Pass the deer marrow and the French brandy.